IFA President Joe Healy lead IFA National Officers and members of the IFA Livestock Committee in a protest at the EU Commission offices in Dublin this morning over what it says is “the double standards” of the Commission in its reckless pursuit of a ‘Sell Out’ trade deal with the South American group of Mercosur countries.

Mr Healy says IFA will be there to oppose EU Commission plans to sell out Irish farming in a deal with the devil that is Brazil and its new President Bolsonaro.

“It is totally unacceptable that the Commission is prepared to sacrifice Irish and European farmers, but they are also giving the green light to the further destruction of rainforests. Farmers are sick of the double speak from the EU Commission which lectures us on climate change, he told Midwest News, but is prepared do a deal with a country with a climate destruction agenda.

The Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office has volumes of reports which expose in stark terms the failure of the Brazilian authorities, in particular, to meet EU standards on animal welfare, traceability, food safety and the environment,” he claims.

At a time when the EU is on the brink of losing the UK market with Brexit, it is reckless of the Commission to agree to a deal which would see tens of thousands of tons of substandard beef from Brazil and other South American countries come onto the European market.

The IFA President and the Livestock Chairman Angus Woods met the chef de Cabinet DG Trade in Brussels on Friday, where they set out IFA’s outright opposition to any deal. The issues raised were also highlighted in the strong communication by the European farm organisation COPA opposing the deal.

In a separate communication to the Commission, some 340 NGOs from across Europe have said the deal should be abandoned.